"Too Close" is a song by American R&B group Next featuring uncredited vocals from Vee of Koffee Brown. It contains a sample of "Christmas Rappin" by Kurtis Blow and was released on January 27, 1998, as the second single from their debut album, Rated Next (1997). The song reached number one on the US Hot 100 and R&B charts, topping the former for five non-consecutive weeks, and has gone platinum, making it their biggest and best-known hit.
Composition According to Billboard, on the song "R.L, Terry and Raphael moan and groan about their female dance partner's grindin' and shakin' -- and their respective bulges as a result -- atop a Chicago-style step dance production."
Critical reception Ralph Tee of Record Mirror gave the song five out of five, writing, "With soulful vocals, floating keyboards and subtle funky guitars, this sounds like a record from a different time and place though it's strangely contemporary. The bassline from Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" [from 1979] definitely provides the old school element, and the beats are non-hip-hop-derived straight fours, but the sophisticated accompaniment does not prevent this from being one of the best and crispest new street jams around."
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1998)PeakpositionCanada (Nielsen SoundScan)3Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)68US Billboard Hot 1001US Hot R&B Singles (Billboard)1US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)5US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)4US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)1
Year-end charts Chart (1998)PositionAustralia (ARIA)83Canada Top Singles (RPM)14Canada Dance (RPM)11Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)50Netherlands (Single Top 100)59New Zealand (RIANZ)18UK Urban (Music Week)4US Billboard Hot 1001US Hot R&B Singles (Billboard)1US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)11US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)32US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)1 Chart (1999)PositionUS Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)80
Decade-end charts Chart (1990–1999)PositionUS Billboard Hot 10016
All-time charts ChartPositionUS Billboard Hot 10030
Certifications
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United StatesJanuary 27, 1998AristaMarch 10, 1998Contemporary hit radioUnited KingdomMay 25, 1998
Blue version
In 2001, English boy band Blue released a cover version of the song as the second single from their debut studio album All Rise (2001). The track was released on August 27, 2001, and became their first number one UK single produced by Ray Ruffin. "Too Close" also reached number five in Australia, number 17 in Ireland, and number one in New Zealand, where the Next version had also been a number-one hit. The song has received a silver sales status certification for sales of over 200,000 copies in the UK, as of February 2021.
Music video The band traveled to New York City to film the music video, and whilst there, they witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center. The following month, Blue were being interviewed by British newspaper The Sun and singer Lee Ryan commented that "This New York thing is being blown out of proportion" and asked "What about whales? They are ignoring animals that are more important. Animals need saving and that's more important." The other members of the band tried to silence Ryan, but he went on. After The Sun quoted Ryan as saying "Who gives a fuck about New York when elephants are being killed?", this caused a huge media backlash that resulted in Blue losing their U.S. record deal and campaigns to sack Ryan from the group.
Track listings UK and Australian CD single "Too Close" (radio edit) – 3:45 "Too Close" (Blacksmith R&B club rub) – 5:41 "Too Close" (instrumental) – 3:45 "Too Close" (video) – 3:45
UK cassette single and European CD single "Too Close" (radio edit) – 3:45 "Too Close" (Blacksmith R&B club rub) – 5:41
Credits and personnel Credits are taken from the All Rise album booklet.
Studios Recorded at Ruffland Studios (London, England) and Cutfather & Joe Studios (Copenhagen, Denmark) Mixed at White Room (Copenhagen, Denmark) Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City) and Sony Music Studios (London, England)
Personnel
Kier Gist – writing Darren Lighty – writing Robert Huggar – writing Raphael Brown – writing Robert Ford Jr. – writing Denzil Miller – writing James B. Moore – writing Kurtis Walker – writing Larry Smith – writing Blue – lead vocals Ray Ruffin – additional backing vocals, keys, programming, production Awsa – additional backing vocals Andrew Smith – guitars Glen Scott – additional keyboards Cutfather & Joe – additional keyboards, additional production and mix Mads Nilsson – mixing Tom Coyne – mastering John Davis – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2001)PeakpositionEurope (Eurochart Hot 100)10Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)27UK Airplay (Music Week)4
Year-end charts Chart (2001)PositionAustralia (ARIA)65Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)59UK Singles (OCC)47
Certifications
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United KingdomAugust 27, 2001AustraliaOctober 22, 2001CD
Parodies In 2015, the song regained attention through the popularity of the internet meme, "Why You Always Lying" by Nicholas Fraser. The parody gained fame within social media (most notably Vine and Twitter) because of the comically poor production quality and relatable theme. Replacing the line "Baby when we're grinding" with "Why the fuck you lying," and similarly for following phrases, the song initially referenced an untrustworthy girl who failed to keep her promise of hooking him up with her cute friend. Currently, the original Vine has been viewed over 76.1 million times, and has been extended into a full music video for YouTube, which has gained over 34 million views as of June 2024. Fraser also performed the parody along with the former Next member RL on the MTV2 show Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne.
In 2021, comedian Munya Chawawa posted a parody of the song with lyrics changed to reflect the panic buying of petrol and diesel fuel that occurred across the United Kingdom in September 2021 during the 2021 United Kingdom fuel supply crisis which in turn caused further panic from the British public. The lyrics to the chorus were changed to "Britain’s panic buying/Petrol pumps are dying/Said Brexit would be fine and turns out they were lying/Fuel is running real low/ Need European blokes/ To come through in their HGVs”.
References